Bold New Toilet Adventure

We had to take the plunge, so to speak, so as not to have to plunge so much.

There are benefits to working at Home Energy, besides working for a great cause. I learned about our new toilet while working as special issue manager on the “Water/Energy” special issue, specifically John Koeller’s article about high-efficiency toilets (see “The Real High-Efficiency Toilets Have Arrived,” p. 10). Our old toilet clogged frequently, which required double flushing and plunging on a regular basis. It ran loudly at random times and for no reason. It was a handsome American Standard with copper fittings and many retrofits in the tank. My ten-year-old daughter is the one responsible for the new toilet in our bathroom. Last summer, she wanted the same popular toilet that our friends had just installed—because it looked cool, had buttons, and had an easy-close seat. She harangued me enough to convince me we had to take action. It didn’t help that I had asked for a new toilet for my birthday the previous year, and no one gave me one. We had to take the plunge, so to speak, so as not to have to plunge so much. On July 31, 2007, my daughter and I began to research our new toilet ...